


Disapproval

by Angylsmuse, Orithain, Rina9294



Series: Double the Fun [5]
Category: Once a Thief (TV), The X-Files
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Doppelcest, Doppelganger, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-05 17:43:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5384612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angylsmuse/pseuds/Angylsmuse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina9294/pseuds/Rina9294
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vic and Alex get back to Toronto and have to deal with Li Ann and the others at the Agency.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disapproval

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 2001.

Li Ann Tsei stepped out of her car and flipped the collar of her coat up, shielding her neck and face from the brisk wind. As cold as it was, however, winter in Toronto had nothing on Greenland, which was where she had spent the past two weeks. As if the so-called training assignment hadn't been horrendous enough, the fact that she'd been sent to the frozen north because of something Mac had done had not sat well with her at all. And then Victor went and got himself kidnapped off the streets of New Orleans!

The young woman sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward as she walked toward the reservoir's entrance. Honestly, what would either of her partners do without her?

Once inside the door, she stripped off her gloves and unbuttoned her coat, listening to her footfalls echo in the corridor as she headed toward the briefing room. As usual, Li Ann was early for work; it was a trait she prided herself on, and one she had utterly failed to instill in Mac when they were together. Victor now, he had been more dependable. If only there had been a way to combine the two men, that would have been perfect. Mac's carefree daring tempered with Victor's dependability, and the result certainly wouldn't have been hard on the eyes either.

As it was, she was content with things as they were; keep both dangling with infrequent hints that she felt something more, but never giving either anything concrete. The Director may have been a bitch at times, but she was also an excellent teacher, and Li Ann was proving an apt pupil.

Breezing through the conference room's door, she raked a hand through her hair, settling the wind-blown strands into place as her eyes settled on the man sitting at the long table. Good, Vic was alone; now she could find out what he thought he had been doing down there.

Pulling off her coat, she set it on the back of one of the chairs, giving Vic a stern look when the slight noise made him turn toward her. "Just what were you thinking, letting yourself get kidnapped like that?" she asked, a hard edge to her voice to cover her concern for her former fiance's welfare. "Honestly, Victor. I'd expect something like that from Mac, but from you? Vanishing like that without a word - talk about irresponsible!"

~*~

Vic chuckled as he washed his hands in the fountain of the men's washroom. Alex seemed to have a definite thing for bathroom sex - first the plane and now not fifteen minutes ago up against the wall of the stall. Thank god Dobie or Nathan or, fuck, Mac hadn't walked in! It was bad enough that it was probably on tape somewhere in the Director's taloned hands!

Rinsing his hands one last time, Vic did a quick check to make sure his clothes were in order and he didn't look totally and completely fucked, even though he certainly felt it, and headed to the conference room.

~*~

Alex's eyes narrowed at the condescending greeting. The woman, though attractive physically, was extremely annoying. If this was Li Ann, Vic's former fiancee, it was no wonder that his lover was more than a little insecure. He'd be willing to bet money that she spent a lot of time belittling Vic and tearing down his confidence.

With that in mind, he decided to have a little fun and get some back for Vic. "Well, gee," he drawled sarcastically, "I thought it would be fun to let an assassin drag me off and almost kill me. How inconsiderate of me not to think that it might inconvenience you."

Green eyes watched her coldly. Despite his best efforts to make her believe that he was Victor, he couldn't pretend to feel anything but dislike for her. But he had a feeling that she was one who saw what she wanted to, so he wasn't worried that she might realize who he was, or rather wasn't.

Li Ann's expression changed to one of shock at the response, and her chin rose a fraction of an inch. "I didn't say that, Victor. What I was talking about was the fact that you were obviously fine, and yet you didn't bother to check in. Did it ever occur to you that we might be worried about you?"

"'Irresponsible,'" Alex repeated coolly. "That sounds more like annoyance at being put out than worry over my fate." Tiring of the game and her self-importance, he continued, "But you can stop 'worrying' about Vic any more, lady. He's my concern now. And if you ever hurt him again, I'll kill you." He shrugged indifferently at her expression of incomprehension. "Keep that in mind. You mean nothing to me."

"Victor, what on earth are you talking about? I think you need to go see the doctor. Maybe it's some sort of post-traumatic stress thing..." Dark eyes narrowing, Li Ann stared hard at her partner and former fiance, wondering if Dr. Frye had gotten to him or if he really was developing schizophrenia.

The door opened behind her, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Mac, do you know what's wrong with Victor? He's talking about himself in the third person, and he threatened me."

Mac tilted his head slightly so that he could look over the top of his sunglasses, then rolled his eyes. He may have only have seen Alex Krycek a few times so far, but he had developed a kind of sixth sense when it came to telling him and Vic apart - maybe it was the fact that he wanted to tear the mother-fucker limb from limb then feed his parts to wild boars - not that he'd give the other man the satisfaction of letting it show.

"That's not Victor, Li Ann." He turned to look over his shoulder when the door was pushed open again. "That is. Take a good look now; it's not often you see them when they aren't drooling all over each other."

For once at a loss for words, Li Ann looked from one identical man to the other, dumbfounded.

"Thanks a fucking lot, Mac," Vic muttered as he walked by the younger agent. "So much for me being one of your closest friends. Next time you need a best man, ask one of the Cleaners since you seem to care more about _their_ happiness than mine!"

Completely ignoring both of his lover's irritating partners, Alex stood up and moved over to Vic, pulling the other man into his arms. "Hi, beautiful. I missed you." He covered Vic's mouth with his own, kissing him hungrily, his hands moving over his lover's body as he pulled him closer. Only when they were both panting for air did Alex raise his head again, though he continued to hold Vic against him.

Hot green eyes cooled to chips of ice as they gazed at Li Ann. "Like I said, Vic's my concern now. And if you're wondering, yes, I am the assassin." He bared his teeth in a smile that more closely resembled a snarl.

"Missed you too, 'Lex," Vic grinned, thoroughly enjoying the Alex and Li Ann show. He decided that since both his partners seemed ready to look down their noses at his new relationship and cast Alex in a bad light, Vic would just do whatever the fuck he wanted. And what he wanted was to mold himself to his lover as close as a second layer of skin and try and remove Alex's tonsils again.

"See, aren't we lucky?" Mac muttered to his sister under his breath. Pushing his sunglasses back up his nose, he sauntered over to the table and dropped gracefully into a chair, propping his feet up on the black surface and lighting a cigarette, blowing a long plume of smoke toward the ceiling. "Free shows whether we want 'em or not."

"Obviously he's had a detrimental affect on Victor," Li Ann answered, unable to tear her eyes away from the two men though she managed a creditable sneer at their public display.

Alex snorted, arms still firmly around Vic as he steered them toward the chair at the opposite end of the table from Mac. "Jealousy will get you nowhere, kiddies. You were stupid enough to throw him away; I'm not." He kissed Vic quickly in apology for talking about him as if he weren't there, then sank into the chair, pulling his lover down onto his lap.

Mac murmured something to Li Ann in Cantonese that had the young woman laughing before settling herself into a chair, smirking.

Vic looked stricken at Mac and Li Ann, the two most real people in his life until Alex had come along. "So much for 'family' he muttered. "Thanks for reminding me yet again that I never really fit in."

Turning back to Alex, Vic washed his hands of it. If his so-called _friends_ couldn't take him the way he was, couldn't be _happy_ for him, then fuck them. He had Alex and Allegra; he had all the family he needed. So what if having Mac turn on him hurt worse that getting shot ever had; he'd learn to live with that too, he hoped.

The door opened again, this time with a bang. "Cool! Everyone's here!" Jackie bounced into the conference room, then stopped, staring hard at Victor and whoever the guy who was with him was. "Whoa! Deja vu or something. Isn't that, like, incest?"

Alex glanced over at the snickering twosome and wondered if they really thought something as juvenile as whispered remarks and laughter would bother him when he had Vic in his arms. The blonde's arrival was a nice distraction, and he smiled at her. She was rather refreshing after all the snide remarks from the other two.

"It would only be incest if we were related, but we're not, so it isn't," he offered, somehow knowing Jackie would appreciate the comment. "You must be Jackie, and I'm Alex." He smiled at her, the first time he'd smiled since meeting Li Ann.

"Hey," Vic punched the older man's shoulder. "No flirting with the tie-dye blonde; if you think you get nuts..." he trailed off with a smirk. "I wish _she'd_ show up. I wanna get the hell out of here; there's nothing here that I really feel like hanging around for, not anymore at least."

Alex frowned, reading Vic easily and angry that these people were hurting him. "We'll do something special tonight, beautiful, just the two of us." He looked around in irritation. "I suppose we have to wait for the uberbitch before we can get out of this place?" He shuddered slightly, for a moment reminded of that damned underground complex and silo.

"If the Dragonlady gets here, tell her I called in sick," Mac said to Li Ann, steadfastly ignoring the other two men, knowing that was the only way he could make it out of there without doing or saying something he'd regret. _Yeah, Vic, you go,_ he told himself as he stood and swung his coat over his shoulder, trailed by the smoke from his cigarette as he walked out of the conference room.

_Like it mattered what any of us thought anyway. Like you've thought of anyone but **him** since you got back, like you've had time to talk to anyone but him. Like I care any more._ That was the problem, of course, but damned if Mac would let any of them know that. Let Vic have him, fine with Mac, plenty of other things to do.

"Going somewhere, Ace?" Dobrinsky's smirk sent Mac over the edge, and the big, bald man found himself thrown into the wall and flipped to the floor with Mac hardly breaking stride as he made his escape.

"Like, what's wrong with Mac?" Jackie asked, glancing around the group in total confusion before grinning at the picture Vic and Alex made together. They were just too cute!

Vic's eyes clouded unhappily as he stared after his friend. "I don't understand; why can't he be happy that I'm happy?" he sighed before extricating himself from Alex's arms and taking the seat next to his lover. "I've always, well almost always, supported him with his harem of women. He never said he was homophobic."

Turning to Jackie, Vic continued. "Mac's not overly fond of my choice of life partners, Jackie. Guess that shouldn't surprise me; he apparently was never very fond of anything I did."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that, Victor. Haven't you ever noticed that our little Mac doesn't wear green well?" the Director purred as she slunk down the stairs. "The uberbitch has arrived; class can come to order. You, Mr. Krycek, can stay _after_ class for your naughty remark. Mr. Dobrinsky will be responsible for your punishment."

Even as she turned her attention to the Director, Li Ann couldn't help the slight expression of disdain and disgust that twisted her mouth before turning into a tiny smirk at the thought of what Dobrinsky would have in store for that utterly rude newcomer.

"Ummm, that might not be the best idea," Vic suddenly piped in, thinking of Dobrinsky and Alex alone together. "You might need to find yourself a new assistant if, well, if things get ugly," he admitted honestly, looking over to Alex to offer a silent apology for stating the obvious.

"And Mac looks fantastic in green," the ex-cop continued, blurting out the statement before thinking about what he said and completely missing what the Director had implied.

Alex had simply smirked at Vic's first comment, but the second sent his eyebrows winging upward. It was beginning to sound to him like Mac's interest in Vic wasn't entirely unrequited. A flash of jealousy pierced him, but he knew he didn't really have anything to worry about. Vic was his, and nothing would ever change that. Still, Mac _was_ pretty. Hmm.....

~*~

With a sigh, Mac lifted his glass, watching as the light behind the bar reflected through the amber liquid, turning it golden as the afternoon light outside. He'd commandeered this stool at the bar several hours ago, and try as he might, he hadn't been able to get drunk yet.

Stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray by his left elbow, he set his drink down and automatically lit another one, inhaling deeply. The whole point in leaving the Agency earlier had been to get away from everything about his partner and his lover; only problem was no one had told Mac's brain that, so he'd spent the day alternating between anger and guilt until finally guilt won.

It wasn't Victor's fault that he'd fallen in love with someone that Mac wouldn't trust any farther than he could throw him. It wasn't Vic's fault that Mac had fallen for _him_ , and it wasn't Vic's fault that Mac was so jealous of him and Alex that seeing them together made Mac want to scream or break things - or people.

None of it was Victor's fault, and Mac had to learn to live with that, and with the other two men, before he went crazy - or crazier than he was anyway. Li Ann wasn't going to be any help; she'd called him twice today to vent her disgust and anger over what their partner had done. He had to admit that he'd egged her on at first, but after listening to her tirade on how sick and perverted the whole idea was, he'd broken in, saying his battery was dying, and simply turned his phone off.

So, how to attempt to make amends? Things would never be the same, no more hanging out, cracking jokes and dissing each other. No more half-drunken talks that turned all too serious in the wee hours of the morning. No more Victor. Now there was Victor and Alex - and Mac would have to deal.

Pushing off his stool, Mac headed for the door. What he had in mind might not help, but it was all he was going to be able to manage in the way of an apology. He made several stops, arranging his purchases in a large basket, then drove to the apartment the two men shared.

Getting in the outer door proved no problem, and, on the elevator ride up, Mac scribbled a few words on a piece of notepaper. "They throw this out because they think I did something to the Dom, I'm going to be all kinds of pissed," he muttered to himself as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

Hitting the button to hold the car on the floor, Mac stepped out and headed down the hall. Reaching Vic and Alex's door, he shifted the basket to one hip, raising his hand to knock, when he paused. What was the point?

Setting the gift down in the doorway, he rapped lightly at the door, then turned and walked back toward the elevator, hitting the button and waiting until the doors slid shut to turn around.

"Well, that's done. What do you want to do tonight, Mac? Gee, I don't know, Mac, get drunk? Get high? Get laid? Such wonderful choices all of them. I know, let's go for all three. Good idea, old boy, good idea."

~*~

Hearing the doorbell, Alex left Vic in the kitchen to watch dinner while he went to answer it. By the time he got there though, the only sign of whoever it had been was the closing elevator doors. He frowned and looked down at the basket lying at his feet, inspecting it carefully for booby traps before picking it up and bringing it inside.

"Hey, Vic, someone left us a gift at the door. A rather nice one at that: Dom Perignon, a pair of Waterford flutes, and some blues CDs. Very nice," he approved, opening the note. "Holy shit." Alex glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Vic hadn't come out of the kitchen yet. _Guess I underestimated you, Macky boy. Maybe you really do love him._

When Vic joined him, he handed him the note wordlessly.

Taking the note from Alex, Vic read it silently. 'Congrats, always remember how lucky you are.' "Mac, you arrogant, childish, sweet idiot, you," Vic murmured, blinking hard to clear his eyes of the moisture that formed. "I think we just got a peace offering, 'lex. Mac definitely does things with style, doesn't he?"

Knowing that he wouldn't get an answer regardless of what number he phoned, Vic picked up the portable and dialed Mac's condo number from memory. "Mac, I..." Vic began, clearing his throat due to emotions threatening to burst. "Thanks, partner, it means the world to me, Mac. It really does. Thank you." Hanging up the phone, the ex-cop turned and walked straight into Alex's arms.

"He's got his moments, doesn't he?" Vic laughed softly, eyes glistening. "I love you so much 'lex, but this - he was, _is_ my best friend. I would trust him to watch my back over Jackie and Li Ann any day. It hurt that he wasn't happy for me, for us. I guess - it's nice to have approval from the people you care most about, you know?"

Remembering his own happiness when Pauline not only approved of Vic but also welcomed him into her family with open arms, Alex could only nod. He was beginning to accept that Mac was an even bigger part of Vic's life than he'd first thought, and though he'd never admit it, the brash ex-thief was growing on him as well. He was going to have to think long and hard about how to handle this, but...

The smell of something burning sent him running for the kitchen, cursing. After tossing the remnants into the sink and turning the water on them, then opening the window to let the smoke out, he sighed and turned to Vic with a wry grin. "What do you want to order?"


End file.
